Chew

Weekly Pull Review: 3/18/15 & 3/25/15

You get two weeks at once, since I had houseguests last week!

3/18/15

Invisible Republic #1- Image

Invisible Republic is a far cry from most of the scifi comics I’ve seen lately. It’s a complex political thriller- it is set on a far away world, yes, but the story could likely stand pretty strongly on its own even without the scifi elements, which many stories lately probably couldn’t. Invisible Republic is set on a world seeded by slower than light colony ships, and only lately reconnected with humanity at large via faster than light. A despot/ political strongman was recently overthrown, and the planet is wracked with poverty and political unrest. A journalist discovers a manuscript which seems to be a herebefore untold story of the despot’s rise to power from someone close to him. The story bounces back and forth between the memoir and the “present” day (I always feel really weird saying present day when referring to far future science fiction.) The story could technically exist in a non- scifi environment, sure, but I feel that it is enriched wonderfully by being scifi. The creators (a married couple, actually) depict the transplanted humans and terrestrial lifeforms competing with the local, alien life, it provides an ability to isolate a world that goes well beyond the ability to isolate a nation in any other genre- not only physically, but economically and culturally as well. Plus, the visuals are gorgeous. It’s very much a grim, gritty industrial future, but something about it just clicks for me. One of the best #1s for me in quite some time.

The Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond the Stars #1- Image

The Manhattan Projects has been split into a group of miniseries now, following the divergent cast members, who were, to be fair, getting a little unwieldy. The Sun Beyond The Stars follows Yuri Gagarin as he quests to find TALKING SPACE DOG Laika, who’s been missing for some time… IN SPACE (also, got transformed into a dog-humanoid somehow, which edges uncomfortably close to furry stuff for my taste). SPACE. The issue starts off introducing some new alien space threat, then skips to Yuri dealing with SPACE JUSTICE (I don’t know why I’m capitalizing SPACE. I just feel like it.) The Manhattan Projects is one of my favorite comics, but Yuri was never one of my favorite characters in it- I would have rather the series followed Richard Feynman and the interdimensional Einstein clones first. (Hey, there’s a great band name.) Still, I’m very happy to see it back.

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Weekly Pull Review 2/25/15

ODY-C #3- Image

It’s cyclops time! Woo! The cyclops is one of the best comic book monsters I’ve ever seen- It’s absolutely profane and alien, all at once. A three lobed mouth that looks almost like one of Guillermo Del Toro’s freakish mutant vampires from Blade 2, though not quite, an enormous eye with eyelids that close along a vertical line, enormous breasts running in three rows down its chest- it definitely stands out. We get introduced to new gods this issue- Hera takes a greater role than in the past, and we get properly introduced to Apollo, and more especially Dionysus. Poseidon still takes the cake as the most visually striking god, but Apollo and Dionysus stand up quite well themselves.

Chew #46- Image

This isn’t the first time a major character has died in Chew, but it’s treated very differently this time around. Most characters don’t even know about this death yet- in fact, only one person does. The status quo has undergone a number of other shakeups, as well- beyond all of the characters lying in the hospital, Tony now refuses to work with Colby, and is stuck working with D-Bear, of all people. No signs of the Vampire yet this arc, but considering that this arc is titled Blood Pudding, and has vampire teeth in the logo…

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Weekly Pull Review

You may have noticed by now that my reviews are very overwhelmingly positive. This is, of course, because this is my pull we’re talking about here, so why would I be keeping any bad comics in it, unless I was perhaps not reviewing them to hide my shameful secret? That would be absurd, of course, and completely unlike me. Completely.

 

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1952 #1– Dark Horse

I’ve been a Hellboy fan for years, but I hadn’t added Hellboy to my pull until recently, largely due to the sheer amount of Hellboy their was. (I couldn’t afford that). Then, a couple of months ago at Rose City Comic Con, I won the complete collection of Hellboy Library editions. So…  yeah, I immediately jumped on adding it to my pull then. The same issue remains for anyone else wanting to buy Hellboy. Hellboy and the B.P.R.D is a side series meant to explore Hellboy’s early days with the paranormal government agency. So far… well, it’s up to a slow start. That’s not a bad thing with Hellboy, though. It’s a traditionally slow burning, or at least unusually paced series. Alex Maleev’s art isn’t quite up to the standards of Mike Mignola’s, but then, whose is? It’s still excellent art in its own respect. This seems like a decent starting point for a new reader wanting something for their pull, though I still think you should start from the beginning.

Five Ghosts #14– Image

This isn’t a bad issue, but I’m used to a much faster pace from Five Ghosts. Getting to see Van Helsing is cool, but the promised fight between him and Fabian Gray (possessed by the ghost of Dracula) (if you’re unfamiliar with the series, Fabian is a pulp action treasure hunter with the ability to channel the spirits of Dracula, Merlin, Miyamoto Musashi, Robin Hood, and Sherlock Holmes, hence the title,) doesn’t actually even start until the very end. Slow is pretty relative, too- Fabian and Van Helsing still kill dozens of ghoul-things throughout the book. The art remains as awesome and pulpy as ever, and Five Ghosts remains one of the absolute coolest books in my pull.

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